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A £1.5m fund to help councils cancel school meal debt is being opened by the Scottish government.

First Minister John Swinney said the move would help ensure children are not "penalised" during the cost of living crisis.

Local authorities will be able to apply to the "emergency one-off" fund for debt built up to 31 March 2024.

A commissioned by Aberlour Children’s Charity found more than £1m was owed by families across Scotland for school meals.

The Scottish government, under previous first minister Humza Yousaf, had pledged to write off the debt in this year's budget.

Mr Swinney said doing so would contribute to his primary aim of eradicating child poverty.

He said: “School meal debt can have a real impact on the wellbeing of families and can serve to stigmatise children whose families are going through challenging times."

He said UK government austerity meant "too many families are struggling to make ends meet – and my government will take all the action we can to support them".

The SNP made a manifesto pledge in 2021 to provide a free breakfast and lunch to all primary school children by August 2022.

Free school lunches - which the government says saves families an average of £400 a year - were subsequently extended to children in P4 and P5 but the rollout of the policy to include P6 and P7 children has been delayed.

The government vowed in its latest budget to spend £43m on extending free school meals to pupils in P6 and P7 whose families receive the Scottish Child Payment.

The first minister added: “I am determined that we support our children to have the best start in life – that is why we are expanding free school meal provision to ensure every pupil can have a nutritious meal at school and ensuring no child is penalised simply because their family is struggling.”